sci.electronics.repair
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair?hl=en

sci.electronics.repair@googlegroups.com

Today's topics:

* WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY ABOUT TERRORISM???????????? - 1 messages, 1 author
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/adad369b51104aaa?hl=en
* beware of the updates you install - 22 messages, 11 authors
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/2b7267e3abedc4ff?hl=en
* Help controlling a capstan motor salvaged from a panasonic VCR - 2 messages,
2 authors
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/3ce4bafc86e038ec?hl=en
* F740LC replacement - 1 messages, 1 author
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/0e7b92ccbd95e04b?hl=en

==============================================================================
TOPIC: WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY ABOUT TERRORISM????????????
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/adad369b51104aaa?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 3:38 pm
From: John-Del


Hey mad bomber, go away. No one here is interested in your message of hate.

On Saturday, November 9, 2013 3:03:43 PM UTC-5, BV BV wrote:

Hateful drivel deleted.





==============================================================================
TOPIC: beware of the updates you install
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/2b7267e3abedc4ff?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 4:53 pm
From: "Trevor"



"dave" <ricketzz@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:gu6dnbycf7auh-DPnZ2dnUVZ_tCdnZ2d@earthlink.com...
> How do you justify paying $200 for a computer operating system that does
> nothing but send you places that ask for money?

Well I've never paid $200 for Windows, and I use a firewall. *IF* all the
software I choose to use was available for Linux, AND all the drivers were
available for the hardware I choose to use, I'd happily run Linux on my
computers. Been waiting for a couple of decades for that to happen, and not
holding my breathe though.


> The Windows world is like North Las Vegas. It is crass, commercial and
> everyone has to get their hands dirty. I have a netbook with XP that I
> need to talk to my iPod.

The Apple ipod itunes crap is the only problem, Windows works well with
every other MP3 player that I've ever used. But so does Linux for that
matter.

Trevor.






== 2 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 5:04 pm
From: "Trevor"



"Scott Dorsey" <kludge@panix.com> wrote in message
news:l5ma0e$cgp$1@panix2.panix.com...
> I like commercial operating systems too, and that is why I am so upset
> that Microsoft and their financing model has driven most other commercial
> operating systems out of the market.
>
> There's Solaris. And there are some commercial Linux releases like Red
> Hat and SuSE that give you commercial-grade support even if they don't
> give you commercial-grade product up-front. And there's _sort of_ VMS
> for a little while anyway.
>
> But since the demise of BeOS there are NO realtime operating systems
> intended for desktop use. There are some linux versions with
> "soft-realtime" extensions and there are a lot of embedded system
> RTOSes and there's sort of QNX if you can get them to deign to speak
> to a mere customer.
>
> But I really would like to see a purpose-built DAW again, on a platform
> designed for the job.

In the days when computing power was far more limited than it is now, it was
a neccessity. But since I've had no problems doing all my multi-track audio
work on generic computers for the last decade, I'm not in a hurry to go down
the expensive, locked in, hope they might give you what you want/need
someday path ever again. Because so many others agree is why those systems
no longer sell.
Some people might want a brand new Nagra tape machine too, but not enough to
make it a commercially viable business plan it seems.

Trevor.






== 3 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 5:15 pm
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)


In article <l5pacr$gpb$1@speranza.aioe.org>, Trevor <trevor@home.net> wrote:
>
>In the days when computing power was far more limited than it is now, it was
>a neccessity. But since I've had no problems doing all my multi-track audio
>work on generic computers for the last decade, I'm not in a hurry to go down
>the expensive, locked in, hope they might give you what you want/need
>someday path ever again. Because so many others agree is why those systems
>no longer sell.

The "throw more CPU power at it and hope it works" philosophy works fine
as long as there's plenty of CPU power for what you want to do. But how
long is that going to continue?

>Some people might want a brand new Nagra tape machine too, but not enough to
>make it a commercially viable business plan it seems.

Dunno, Nagra seems to be doing pretty well right now. They don't sell a lot
of analogue machines, but they're not out of the catalogue yet.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."




== 4 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 5:19 pm
From: "Trevor"



"geoff" <geoff@nospampaf.co.nz> wrote in message
news:yMWdnUosR6msd-LPnZ2dnUVZ_jKdnZ2d@giganews.com...
>
> I find it amusing that some peoples' OSs appear to give them stiffies.

Yeh, I find it amusing too, just like those who get stiffies whenever Apple
comes out with an expensive new product. :-)


> Unless the OS is actually a (real, not just perceived or religous)
> problem, the whole point is the APPLICATIONS !

Dead right. I'm not only amused but annoyed they find it necessary to mess
with the desktop interface every time they bring out an update, when all I
want is the fastest way to get to the applications (with support for all the
new hardware technolgy since the last release).
Windows 8 sure aint it IMO :-(

Trevor.






== 5 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 5:26 pm
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)


>Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:
>>
>> There's Solaris.
>
>I was forced back onto that recently. Quite unpleasant. The Linuces are
>much more advanced. They were actually going to Linux as the solution
>to that.

See, I would consider Solaris a lot more advanced, in terms of actually having
a solid kernel that has been well-debugged and is stable. Turn off the stupid
java gui and all that crap and you have a very solid OS that does not require
constant patching.

My complaint with Linux is mostly that the Linux community is constantly
changing things, and they often don't change them for the better or the
worse, they just change them for the sake of changing them. This seems like
misplaced effort on the part of developers, but what bothers me is that now
I have to change my stuff unnecessarily.

I would much prefer a system that was actually designed, where someone sat
down and made a decision about what the thing was supposed to do and then
built it to do that and then removed bugs rather than added features.

But... when systems are built like that, they aren't systems for everything,
they are systems for the one thing the designer decided it was supposed to
do. And if that's not what you want... that should be fine because there
should be plenty of other systems out there to do other things.

It's the lack of those other systems that I am bemoaning.

>> And there are some commercial Linux releases like Red
>> Hat and SuSE that give you commercial-grade support even if they don't
>> give you commercial-grade product up-front.
>
>Dunno what's not "commercial grade" about it; it's fine. The general
>package management problem in Linux still persists.

Every week someone finds some security vulnerability that needs to get
patched. Every week someone makes some unneeded change. If there is a
problem with a third-party device driver I can't call up DEC support
on a three-way call and have the DEC developers working with the third-party
guys to fix the problem.

>> But since the demise of BeOS there are NO realtime operating systems
>> intended for desktop use.
>
>Hm. Well, I don't have much trouble with that. For "realtime", we
>just write drivers. It's not a desktop, but it could be. All
>you really need is one free hardware timer.

No, you don't just write drivers. If you want an actual hard realtime
system you either need to wrest control away from the OS and do everything
as one uninterruptable process, or you need an operating system with a
scheduler that assigns timeslices to processes based upon how much time
those processes need to make deadline. When you make a call to the operating
system, say open(), one of the parameters is how long you have to wait for
the OS to do the job, and the kernel will prioritize the call appropriately
to make sure all those calls return in time.

The alternative is just to throw CPU at the problem and hope everybody can
meet deadline. This is called "soft realtime" and sometimes it works and
sometimes it doesn't. What is evil is that sometimes it's not always obvious
at the time that data is being lost because there is no way for the kernel
or the application to flag that it's missing deadlines in many cases.

>The various Atmel sized processors really kind of make a realtime
>desktop moot. There's stuff like the Raspberry PI and cubieBoard
>that can do all that as well.

Sure, but can I run a DAW on it?

>It might be prohibitive, but I think you could build a cubieBoard
>linux that interfaces to one/any of the USB2.0 interfaces using ALSA .
>It has HDMI, so there's your display solution. Just NFS mount a remote
>desktop/server/NAS.
>
>If the USB2.0 interface has MIDI, you have a control surface solution.

Could be, but I'm still holding out for hard-realtime.

>> But I really would like to see a purpose-built DAW again, on a platform
>> designed for the job.
>
>There are curious variations on the theme, like standalone VST hosts.

Which is a very, very cool idea. I just saw one being used for PA
applications not long ago!

>I kinda don't see the point of it. You can
>run any of the COTS DAW packages on a stripped-down machine.
>
>And isn't Otari still shipping RADAR?

They are, which is really BeOS inside, secretly.
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."




== 6 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 5:31 pm
From: "Trevor"



"Scott Dorsey" <kludge@panix.com> wrote in message
news:l5pb3b$lep$1@panix2.panix.com...
>>In the days when computing power was far more limited than it is now, it
>>was
>>a neccessity. But since I've had no problems doing all my multi-track
>>audio
>>work on generic computers for the last decade, I'm not in a hurry to go
>>down
>>the expensive, locked in, hope they might give you what you want/need
>>someday path ever again. Because so many others agree is why those systems
>>no longer sell.
>
> The "throw more CPU power at it and hope it works" philosophy works fine
> as long as there's plenty of CPU power for what you want to do. But how
> long is that going to continue?

Until the next "dark ages". Technology usually moves forward not backwards.


>>Some people might want a brand new Nagra tape machine too, but not enough
>>to
>>make it a commercially viable business plan it seems.
>
> Dunno, Nagra seems to be doing pretty well right now. They don't sell a
> lot
> of analogue machines

Exactly, I specifically said "*tape* machine". Where are the new models?
Can't justify the development costs would be my guess.

Trevor.






== 7 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 9:06 pm
From: "geoff"


Scott Dorsey wrote:
> In article <l5pacr$gpb$1@speranza.aioe.org>, Trevor <trevor@home.net>
> wrote:
>>
>> In the days when computing power was far more limited than it is
>> now, it was a neccessity. But since I've had no problems doing all
>> my multi-track audio work on generic computers for the last decade,
>> I'm not in a hurry to go down the expensive, locked in, hope they
>> might give you what you want/need someday path ever again. Because
>> so many others agree is why those systems no longer sell.
>
> The "throw more CPU power at it and hope it works" philosophy works
> fine
> as long as there's plenty of CPU power for what you want to do. But
> how long is that going to continue?

Seems to be increasing true wrt audio, given the continued rate of increase
in CPU horsepower and RAM size versus software requirement on it. Even
CPU-hungry plugins don't seem to be the problem they used to be.

This applies to everything I've ever done, except for video-rendering which
is and probably always will be ever-expanding in the resource demand dept
.....


geoff






== 8 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 9:07 pm
From: "geoff"


Trevor wrote:
> "geoff" <geoff@nospampaf.co.nz> wrote in message
> news:yMWdnUosR6msd-LPnZ2dnUVZ_jKdnZ2d@giganews.com...
>>
>> I find it amusing that some peoples' OSs appear to give them
>> stiffies.
>
> Yeh, I find it amusing too, just like those who get stiffies whenever
> Apple comes out with an expensive new product. :-)
>
>
>> Unless the OS is actually a (real, not just perceived or religous)
>> problem, the whole point is the APPLICATIONS !
>
> Dead right. I'm not only amused but annoyed they find it necessary to
> mess with the desktop interface every time they bring out an update,
> when all I want is the fastest way to get to the applications (with
> support for all the new hardware technolgy since the last release).
> Windows 8 sure aint it IMO :-(

Fortunately it's mostly easily-fixable for free.

www.classicshell.net .

geoff






== 9 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 9:10 pm
From: "geoff"


Scott Dorsey wrote:

> I would much prefer a system that was actually designed, where
> someone sat down and made a decision about what the thing was
> supposed to do and then built it to do that and then removed bugs
> rather than added features.

Chicken-egg thing really. Features need to be added because of commercial
really - other products may sport such features (sometimes even good and
truely useful ones !) , and 'whatever' OS needs to keep it's user base to
survive.

geoff






== 10 of 22 ==
Date: Sun, Nov 10 2013 9:34 pm
From: Les Cargill


Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Scott Dorsey wrote:
>>> Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> There's Solaris.
>>
>> I was forced back onto that recently. Quite unpleasant. The Linuces are
>> much more advanced. They were actually going to Linux as the solution
>> to that.
>
> See, I would consider Solaris a lot more advanced, in terms of actually having
> a solid kernel that has been well-debugged and is stable. Turn off the stupid
> java gui and all that crap and you have a very solid OS that does not require
> constant patching.
>

It is solid.

> My complaint with Linux is mostly that the Linux community is constantly
> changing things, and they often don't change them for the better or the
> worse, they just change them for the sake of changing them. This seems like
> misplaced effort on the part of developers, but what bothers me is that now
> I have to change my stuff unnecessarily.
>

Can't argue there.

> I would much prefer a system that was actually designed, where someone sat
> down and made a decision about what the thing was supposed to do and then
> built it to do that and then removed bugs rather than added features.
>
> But... when systems are built like that, they aren't systems for everything,
> they are systems for the one thing the designer decided it was supposed to
> do. And if that's not what you want... that should be fine because there
> should be plenty of other systems out there to do other things.
>
> It's the lack of those other systems that I am bemoaning.
>

The general ... Leviathan nature of mass market computing means people
will adapt the general to the specific, because it costs much less than
designing for specific from the git-go.

And frankly, it's not something I'd consider a very real problem at
this writing. I can run a DAW in a VM at times ( because the VM is 32
bit ) and nary a glitch.

>>> And there are some commercial Linux releases like Red
>>> Hat and SuSE that give you commercial-grade support even if they don't
>>> give you commercial-grade product up-front.
>>
>> Dunno what's not "commercial grade" about it; it's fine. The general
>> package management problem in Linux still persists.
>
> Every week someone finds some security vulnerability that needs to get
> patched. Every week someone makes some unneeded change. If there is a
> problem with a third-party device driver I can't call up DEC support
> on a three-way call and have the DEC developers working with the third-party
> guys to fix the problem.
>

Well, you're not really a customer, you see...

>>> But since the demise of BeOS there are NO realtime operating systems
>>> intended for desktop use.
>>
>> Hm. Well, I don't have much trouble with that. For "realtime", we
>> just write drivers. It's not a desktop, but it could be. All
>> you really need is one free hardware timer.
>
> No, you don't just write drivers. If you want an actual hard realtime
> system you either need to wrest control away from the OS and do everything
> as one uninterruptable process, or you need an operating system with a
> scheduler that assigns timeslices to processes based upon how much time
> those processes need to make deadline. When you make a call to the operating
> system, say open(), one of the parameters is how long you have to wait for
> the OS to do the job, and the kernel will prioritize the call appropriately
> to make sure all those calls return in time.
>

I am quite familiar with the distinction. I respectfully submit that
... one can build "hard realtime" systems in the manner I have
suggested.

> The alternative is just to throw CPU at the problem and hope everybody can
> meet deadline. This is called "soft realtime" and sometimes it works and
> sometimes it doesn't. What is evil is that sometimes it's not always obvious
> at the time that data is being lost because there is no way for the kernel
> or the application to flag that it's missing deadlines in many cases.
>

There are perfectly good microsecond-resolution ( or better )
free running timers for measuring deadlines. time.h stuff...

>> The various Atmel sized processors really kind of make a realtime
>> desktop moot. There's stuff like the Raspberry PI and cubieBoard
>> that can do all that as well.
>
> Sure, but can I run a DAW on it?
>

I don't know. I don't imagine so until ALSA gets ported
to one. Then it would be a lot like a Linux machine.

>> It might be prohibitive, but I think you could build a cubieBoard
>> linux that interfaces to one/any of the USB2.0 interfaces using ALSA .
>> It has HDMI, so there's your display solution. Just NFS mount a remote
>> desktop/server/NAS.
>>
>> If the USB2.0 interface has MIDI, you have a control surface solution.
>
> Could be, but I'm still holding out for hard-realtime.
>
>>> But I really would like to see a purpose-built DAW again, on a platform
>>> designed for the job.
>>
>> There are curious variations on the theme, like standalone VST hosts.
>
> Which is a very, very cool idea. I just saw one being used for PA
> applications not long ago!
>

Yeah, maybe that'll grow into what you want.

>> I kinda don't see the point of it. You can
>> run any of the COTS DAW packages on a stripped-down machine.
>>
>> And isn't Otari still shipping RADAR?
>
> They are, which is really BeOS inside, secretly.
> --scott
>
>

--
Les Cargill




== 11 of 22 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 3:29 pm
From: Jay Hennigan


On 11/7/13 2:30 PM, sctvguy1 wrote:

> The only people who seem to love Windows, are techs who make money
> "fixing" problems and re-installing everything when it gets infected.

With apologies to Edgar Allen Poe...

Once upon a Tuesday dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Installing the same version of Windows once more.
While I cursed the constant crashing, I made a fist and started bashing,
Started bashing the computer case and CD-ROM drive door.
"Piece of crap," I muttered, bashing the CD-ROM drive door,
"I will take this crap no more!"

Distinctly I do remember, when I bought my PC in December,
The marketing man said this software would crash no more.
Eagerly I wished to borrow a tool to inflict pain and sorrow
So that one day, perhaps tomorrow, I could go to my computer store
For the chance to make the salesman sell this crap no more.
Only this and nothing more.

So after wasting countless hours, I unplugged the beige mini-tower.
My day was looking very tragic like the old poetry of gothic lore,
But suddenly there came a tapping, rhymthic like the beats of rapping.
Actually, it sounded like flippers flapping, flapping at my apartment door.
"That is very odd," I muttered, "the time is nearly half past four,
Who is knocking on my door?"

The door was opened but it only revealed a penguin standing quite lonely,
Standing with a bag of CD-ROMs on the stoop before my apartment door.
I thought at first it was a delusion, for I was wrought with great confusion
Over the presence of a flightless Antarctic bird at my apartment door.
So I stood there, looking quite the fool, with my jaw down to the floor.
Then the bird said, "Pay no more!"

I thought to call the SPCA ... perhaps it escaped the zoo today.
But instead I brought the talking Aptenodytes forsteri inside my door.
He looked around, he looked at me ... and then he waddled to my PC.
I followed fast and I did see him place his disc in my drive door.
His program booted and began to install software I'd never seen before,
Then the bird said, "Pay No More!"

He brought me LINUX to install, said it rarely crashed at all.
Then he showed me some books while the software installed some more.
The interface, it looked like UNIX ... but 'twas much cheaper than QNX.
In fact, the code was open, so the source of bugs was hidden no more
It made wonder about the penguin's disc, behind my CD drive door ...
And why the bird said, "Pay No More."

So I tried this new installation, at first with fear and trepidation,
But soon I found it more stable than the OS I used before.
The files were in different places, and I put Linux through its paces
And very rarely made odd faces ... it didn't crash like Windows did before.
For this fat penguin made me see a way to use my computer as never before.
Then the bird said, "Pay No More!"

So once upon a morning sunny, I installed Linux for no money,
With the CD-ROM brought by a penguin to my apartment door.
After cursing the old installation, I reduced my overall frustration
And with a bit of determination I removed the software I used before.
Now I read Linux books and Web sites to use my free operating system more.
Quoth the penguin, "Pay No More."





== 12 of 22 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 4:05 pm
From: "William Sommerwerck"


I've been using Windows since 3.0. That version tended to crash for no obvious
reason. I've not had that problem with any later version.

Around 2004, "something" went wrong with my Windows 2000 installation. It
would boot, but its behavior was screwy. (This might have been due to a
malware attack, but I don't know for sure.) I was obliged to reinstall it, and
had no problems for the next eight years.

When people say that Windows is crash-prone, and/or often requires
reinstallation, I have to wonder what's going on. I've worked many jobs at
Microsoft, and have never seen this. I can only assume it's due to some sort
of user error, or badly written drivers.





== 13 of 22 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 6:02 pm
From: sctvguy1


On Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:05:27 -0800, William Sommerwerck wrote:

> I've been using Windows since 3.0. That version tended to crash for no
> obvious reason. I've not had that problem with any later version.
>
> Around 2004, "something" went wrong with my Windows 2000 installation.
> It would boot, but its behavior was screwy. (This might have been due to
> a malware attack, but I don't know for sure.) I was obliged to reinstall
> it, and had no problems for the next eight years.
>
> When people say that Windows is crash-prone, and/or often requires
> reinstallation, I have to wonder what's going on. I've worked many jobs
> at Microsoft, and have never seen this. I can only assume it's due to
> some sort of user error, or badly written drivers.

Were you working there when Bill Gates was using OS/2 on his own desktop?




== 14 of 22 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 6:26 pm
From: Michael Terrell


On Monday, November 11, 2013 6:29:05 PM UTC-5, Jay Hennigan wrote:
> On 11/7/13 2:30 PM, sctvguy1 wrote:
>
> With apologies to Edgar Allen Poe...


YAWN.............




== 15 of 22 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 10:27 pm
From: "Trevor"



"geoff" <geoff@nospampaf.co.nz> wrote in message
news:gZWdnTu8m-mm-B3PnZ2dnUVZ_o2dnZ2d@giganews.com...
> Trevor wrote:
>> "geoff" <geoff@nospampaf.co.nz> wrote in message
>> news:yMWdnUosR6msd-LPnZ2dnUVZ_jKdnZ2d@giganews.com...
>>>
>>> I find it amusing that some peoples' OSs appear to give them
>>> stiffies.
>>
>> Yeh, I find it amusing too, just like those who get stiffies whenever
>> Apple comes out with an expensive new product. :-)
>>
>>> Unless the OS is actually a (real, not just perceived or religous)
>>> problem, the whole point is the APPLICATIONS !
>>
>> Dead right. I'm not only amused but annoyed they find it necessary to
>> mess with the desktop interface every time they bring out an update,
>> when all I want is the fastest way to get to the applications (with
>> support for all the new hardware technolgy since the last release).
>> Windows 8 sure aint it IMO :-(
>
> Fortunately it's mostly easily-fixable for free.
>
> www.classicshell.net .


Yes, not from MS of course, even the Win 8.1 update is pathetic, and Classic
shell is just a patch for a problem that should never have existed IMO. Give
touchscreen users the option by all means, but no need to remove what
already works for everybody else.

Trevor.






== 16 of 22 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 10:40 pm
From: "Trevor"



"Jay Hennigan" <jay@west.net> wrote in message
news:ZOSdnTBXTvDf9RzPnZ2dnUVZ_i2dnZ2d@netlojix.com...
> With apologies to Edgar Allen Poe...
>
> Once upon a Tuesday dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
> Installing the same version of Windows once more.
> While I cursed the constant crashing, I made a fist and started bashing,
> Started bashing the computer case and CD-ROM drive door.
> "Piece of crap," I muttered, bashing the CD-ROM drive door,
> "I will take this crap no more!"
>
> Distinctly I do remember, when I bought my PC in December,
> The marketing man said this software would crash no more.
> Eagerly I wished to borrow a tool to inflict pain and sorrow
> So that one day, perhaps tomorrow, I could go to my computer store
> For the chance to make the salesman sell this crap no more.
> Only this and nothing more.
>
> So after wasting countless hours, I unplugged the beige mini-tower.
> My day was looking very tragic like the old poetry of gothic lore,
> But suddenly there came a tapping, rhymthic like the beats of rapping.
> Actually, it sounded like flippers flapping, flapping at my apartment
> door.
> "That is very odd," I muttered, "the time is nearly half past four,
> Who is knocking on my door?"
>
> The door was opened but it only revealed a penguin standing quite lonely,
> Standing with a bag of CD-ROMs on the stoop before my apartment door.
> I thought at first it was a delusion, for I was wrought with great
> confusion
> Over the presence of a flightless Antarctic bird at my apartment door.
> So I stood there, looking quite the fool, with my jaw down to the floor.
> Then the bird said, "Pay no more!"
>
> I thought to call the SPCA ... perhaps it escaped the zoo today.
> But instead I brought the talking Aptenodytes forsteri inside my door.
> He looked around, he looked at me ... and then he waddled to my PC.
> I followed fast and I did see him place his disc in my drive door.
> His program booted and began to install software I'd never seen before,
> Then the bird said, "Pay No More!"
>
> He brought me LINUX to install, said it rarely crashed at all.
> Then he showed me some books while the software installed some more.
> The interface, it looked like UNIX ... but 'twas much cheaper than QNX.
> In fact, the code was open, so the source of bugs was hidden no more
> It made wonder about the penguin's disc, behind my CD drive door ...
> And why the bird said, "Pay No More."
>
> So I tried this new installation, at first with fear and trepidation,
> But soon I found it more stable than the OS I used before.
> The files were in different places, and I put Linux through its paces
> And very rarely made odd faces ... it didn't crash like Windows did
> before.
> For this fat penguin made me see a way to use my computer as never before.
> Then the bird said, "Pay No More!"
>
> So once upon a morning sunny, I installed Linux for no money,
> With the CD-ROM brought by a penguin to my apartment door.
> After cursing the old installation, I reduced my overall frustration
> And with a bit of determination I removed the software I used before.
> Now I read Linux books and Web sites to use my free operating system more.
> Quoth the penguin, "Pay No More."

And use all your Windows software no more :-(
Linux is great if you are happy with the available software, or all you want
to do is surf the net. However I'm amazed that people who can successfully
install and run Linux can't keep a Windows box running.

Trevor.






== 17 of 22 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 12 2013 3:07 am
From: "William Sommerwerck"


"sctvguy1" wrote in message news:l5s281$d2p$3@dont-email.me...
On Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:05:27 -0800, William Sommerwerck wrote:

>> When people say that Windows is crash-prone, and/or often
>> requires reinstallation, I have to wonder what's going on. I've
>> worked many jobs at Microsoft, and have never seen this. I can
>> only assume it's due to some sort of user error, or badly written
>> drivers.

> Were you working there when Bill Gates was using OS/2 on his
> own desktop?

I was there during the period of OS/2's brief popularity.

Was OS/2 particularly crash prone, or are you referring to the fact that it
needed the Presentation Manager for a graphic interface?






== 18 of 22 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 12 2013 3:09 am
From: "William Sommerwerck"


PS: You didn't respond to my blueberry pancakes jokes. I was hurt.




== 19 of 22 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 12 2013 3:14 am
From: John Williamson


William Sommerwerck wrote:
> "sctvguy1" wrote in message news:l5s281$d2p$3@dont-email.me...
> On Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:05:27 -0800, William Sommerwerck wrote:
>
>> Were you working there when Bill Gates was using OS/2 on his
>> own desktop?
>
> I was there during the period of OS/2's brief popularity.
>
> Was OS/2 particularly crash prone, or are you referring to the fact that
> it needed the Presentation Manager for a graphic interface?
>
>
I took it as more of a suggestion that the owner and creator of
Microsoft didn't want to use a Microsft OS on his own machine.

Of course, it could just have been research to find out just how bad
OS/2 was....

--
Tciao for Now!

John.




== 20 of 22 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 12 2013 5:59 am
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)


In article <l5sidu$dan$1@speranza.aioe.org>, Trevor <trevor@home.net> wrote:
>
>And use all your Windows software no more :-(
>Linux is great if you are happy with the available software, or all you want
>to do is surf the net. However I'm amazed that people who can successfully
>install and run Linux can't keep a Windows box running.

They are philosophically very different to run and debug problems on. With
Linux, you can readily look inside and see what is going on, and so step by
step diagnosis is possible (and in fact is essential). On the other hand,
with Windows systems you can't really see what is going on inside the box
at all and if you attempt conventional step by step diagnosis you will only
get frustrated and angry. Windows diagnosis is basically done with a matrix
of problems and solutions... and the good news is that there are enough
Windows systems that a google search on a given problem will usually find you
a solution. That doesn't mean the person with the solution has any more idea
what is going on inside the box than you do, though.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."




== 21 of 22 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 12 2013 6:18 am
From: Leif Neland


Scott Dorsey tastede følgende:
> In article <l5sidu$dan$1@speranza.aioe.org>, Trevor <trevor@home.net> wrote:
>>
> ... Windows diagnosis is basically done with a matrix
> of problems and solutions... and the good news is that there are enough
> Windows systems that a google search on a given problem will usually find you
> a solution.

Or often umpteen people with the same problem and no solution :-(

Leif

--
Husk kørelys bagpå, hvis din bilfabrikant har taget den idiotiske
beslutning at undlade det.






== 22 of 22 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 12 2013 6:24 am
From: dave


On 11/08/2013 10:56 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
> dave <dave@dave.dave> wrote:
>>
>> BTW You can occasionally find a Nagra IV-S for under a hundred bucks
>> here nowadays.
>
> I'll take all you can get at that price. Prices on those machines are
> actually rising... they hit rock bottom a few years ago but they now seem
> to be getting snapped up by collectors. I have been getting a lot of repair
> work from guys buying the things who don't know what they are buying.
> --scott
>

I'll check. We had a pile of them at the last place I worked. We
replaced them with Fostex time code digital recorders and ProTools type
DAWs on laptops.





==============================================================================
TOPIC: Help controlling a capstan motor salvaged from a panasonic VCR
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/3ce4bafc86e038ec?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 6:04 pm
From: carlynorama


Hi there,

I am trying to appropriate the motors out of an old vcr.

I have a VEM0800 motor attached to a board with a BA6868FM chip on it.

The board is labeled VEP02579A, other markings on the motor include "EP23AA" and "403201"

This is the only data sheet I have for the chip is:
http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Rohm%20PDFs/BA6868FM.pdf

Before I spend too much more time on this I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a pinout for the 8 pin header on the board?

The assembly was given to me already removed from the vcr so I can't trace it back that way. If no one knows I'll go through checking continuity pin by pin, but I'm trying to avoid that.

Thanks,
-c




== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Mon, Nov 11 2013 10:28 pm
From: jurb6006@gmail.com


?Nothing solid yet, but I would recommend getting a print for one of the VCRs that use this motor.

ther eis one here : https://www.partstore.com/CompatibleModels.aspx?MfgName=Matsushita&BrandName=Panasonic&PartNumber=VEM0800&ItemCondition=New&page=3

VCRs control these motors quite well and reverse them and all that so getting the print for any of the VCRs tyhat use that motor should give you the methoid of how to control it.

You could do it yourself from scratch if you want to reinvent the wheel, but do you ?

If so and you got good reason, say so. you could concievabvly connect to the motor board and discard their inadequate chip. But why ? I know they had a way to report the phase back to the servo chip but never looked into it. they did this for slow tracking. Rmeember slow trackng ?

Anyway, get the print for any of those machines and you should be able to do what you want to do. If not, say so...





==============================================================================
TOPIC: F740LC replacement
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/t/0e7b92ccbd95e04b?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Nov 12 2013 5:45 am
From: test


Hi!

Anyone knows a valid replacement for a F740LC?
I found some spares with ebay in Germany, but it seems hard to find
elsewhere...

Thanks!




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